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The Victorian Period

I really enjoyed Dr. Reed's video introducing the Victorian Period as it's one of my favorite things I've learned about as an English major! Many iconic writers emerged from this era, including Charles Dickens and Alfred Lord Tennyson. Dr. Reed mentions the geographic expansion of England and the sudden explosion of wealth during this time period. It's true, this era was one that was obsessed with class standings and they were very self conscious with how this caused others to view them. Something else I'm interested in was how the Victorian era was important to women. "The Woman Question" asked what a ladies' role in society should be, as it seemed to be moving toward a change. In addition to this, some very famous female writers define this period, such as the Bronte sisters and George Eliot. 

Of course, Dr. Reed talks about Queen Victoria in the video lecture. This is appropriate considering she is an essential figure in this era. As Dr. Reed put it, she was a serious woman with a strong sense of duty and morality. She marries and has nine children with Prince Albert, and according to the lecture, they had a happy, well balanced life together. When Albert dies, Victoria pretty much mourns for the rest of her life, wearing only black for years until she dies as well. There is an amazing movie that I watched in my Victorian Literature class called "A Young Victoria" in which Emily Blunt plays Queen Victoria. The movie follows her reign starting at age 18 and the love she shares with Prince Albert. I highly recommend it. 

This blog post is kind of a ramble about things I enjoy regarding the Victorian Period. However, I can't end it without mentioning some of my favorite Victorian literature! Of course I'm going to start with Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. To put it as simply as possible, the play is about pretending to be someone else to win the affections of someone you love. When I read the play for the first time I loved it, but most of the class thought it was silly and didn't have much substance to it. I agree that the play is farcical, but that's one of the best parts about it in my opinion. I feel it also has a serious side, and there's lots of different ways to analyze the small details and seemingly insignificant events. I also like the 2002 movie version of The Importance of Being Earnest with Reese Witherspoon. A novel I didn't expect to enjoy but ending up really liking was Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. The protagonist is a dark man named Heathcliff, and the book features many prominent characteristics of gothic fiction. The most vivid in my eyes was how the characters became like their settings. After doing some research, I found out that the novel was critically acclaimed because of it's dark nature. I think it's kind of funny how my two  favorite stand-out stories from my Victorian class are almost polar opposites of each other. 



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